[03/31/09 - 12:01 PM]ABC Is the Most-Watched Network on Monday for the 4th Week in a Row and Across All Women Demos for the 8th Consecutive WeekABC spins the numbers for Monday, March 30.

[via press release from ABC]

Quick Take for Monday, March 30, 2009
(Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

ABC is the Most-Watched Network on Monday for the 4th Week in a Row and Across All Women Demos for the 8th Consecutive Week

"DWTS" Wins from 8-10pm to Top the Second-Place Nets
by 8.5 Million Viewers and by 14% Among Adults 18-49

ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" is Monday's No. 1 Program in
Viewers and Across All Key Women Demos for the 4th Week in a Row

ABC's "Castle" Takes a Strong Second at 10pm, Outperforming NBC's "Medium" by 2.5 Million Viewers and by 17% in Adults 18-34

Monday Night (8:00-11:00 p.m.)

ABC Monday lineup drew 16.8 million viewers and a 4.0 rating 10 share in Adults 18-49, standing as the most-watched Network on the night for the 5th week running. In addition, ABC won the night for the 8th straight week across all key Women demographics (W18-34 � 4.4/11, W18-49 � 5.6/14 and W25-54 � 7.0/16), including a 13-week stretch among Women 18-34.

"Dancing with the Stars" (8:00-10:00 p.m.)

ABC's broad appealing "Dancing with the Stars" won its time period in Total Viewers (20.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.8/12) for the 4th straight week, topping the second-place networks by 8.5 million viewers (11.7 million - Fox) and by 14% in Adults 18-49 (4.2/11 � CBS and Fox tied). "DWTS" also qualified as Monday's No. 1 TV program in viewers and among all key Women demos (W18-34 � 5.1/13, W18-49 � 6.7/16 and Women 25-54 � 8.3/18) for the 4th time in as many weeks.

A note about increasing DVR penetration and year-to-year rating comparisons: Year-to-year rating comparisons based on the Live + Same Day data stream are distorted by the level of DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample, which has jumped up to 30% currently, from 23% at the same point in 2008.

More viewers are watching shows on their own timetables, which may not be reflected in the overnight next day numbers. The only truly valid year-to-year comparison would be one based on the Live + 7 Day metric, once those stats are released by Nielsen.

Source: Nielsen Media Research (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings), 3/30/09.